Georgia Highlands College

ELECTRONIC MAIL (Email) POLICY

1.0 Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to assure that the Georgia Highlands College electronic mail (Email) user community is aware of the College policies and laws concerning Email services and that these services are used in compliance with these policies and laws. This policy has been developed to ensure a quality Email service environment at Georgia Highlands College that furthers the academic distribution of information and service of the institution. Providing this environment assures resource distribution, network availability, and data integrity. Achieving these goals requires that every individual in the Georgia Highlands College family cooperate and adhere to these guidelines. All network and email accounts are the sole property of Georgia Highlands College. Certain restrictions to privacy, however, prevent email from being considered totally private. There are a number of laws and policies that may require or permit examination of computer related records such as email. These exceptions will be explained below.

2.0 Scope

Email services are to be provided by the College in support of the teaching, research, and public service mission of the College and administrative functions that support this mission. Georgia Highlands College recognizes the importance of academic freedom, freedom of speech, and privacy of information. The College respects the privacy of users and does not routinely inspect or monitor Email without the user’s permission unless one of the following conditions require such action (1) when required by and consistent with law; (2) when there is reasonable assumption that a violation of law or College policy has occurred; (3) when there are time-critical operational circumstances; or (4) in the normal course of system administration by systems administrators and postmasters.

Since Georgia is an open records state, the law requires that public records be open and available for inspection by any member of the public. These public records include most electronic records of all state agencies. Documents, data, emails, etc. are considered public records regardless of where they reside. Other laws and acts may also require access to these records. Both Georgia law and Georgia Highlands College policy prohibit, in general, the theft or other abuse of computer systems. Some prohibitions apply to electronic mail services and include, but are not limited to: unauthorized entry, use, transfer, and tampering with the accounts and files of others; interference with the work of others and with other computing facilities. Under certain circumstances the law contains provisions for felony offenses. Users of electronic mail are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these laws and policies.

It is also understood that system administrators must perform routine maintenance on these systems. The nature of this system administration will sometimes require Information Technology personnel to work with these files. Each email server also has at least one Postmaster assigned to monitor email that the system cannot deliver due to a variety of factors. The Electronic Communication Act of 1986 provisions this access for system administrators. Only certain IT staff is allowed this access and they must still follow prudent guidelines in dealing with this information. Disclosure of this information should occur only if the material is illegal or in violation of policy. IT staff must notify the Chief Information Officer of this violation, which will in turn be dealt with professionally with senior college administrators. These records can then be monitored without notice to the user with vice presidential or presidential approval. This is conducted as such, only when there is substantial evidence of an illegal activity or serious policy violation.

Users may utilize the College’s Email services for incidental personal purposes provided that it does not violate this policy. Messages sent to college-wide distribution lists should be used only for college pertinent information. Since Email is not a totally secure medium, Email should not be used for the transmission of extremely personal and/or confidential educational records, copyright infringement, fraud, slander, libel, harassment and obscenity.

Users have a responsibility to use this resource in an efficient, effective, ethical and lawful manner. Email communications should follow the same standards expected in written business communications and public meetings. Violation of this policy may result in disciplinary action, including possible termination/expulsion and/or legal action.

No user shall give their password for any Email system to an unauthorized person, nor shall they obtain any other individual’s password by any unauthorized means whatsoever. In addition to the above, no user shall utilize Email for their personal use if it (1) directly or indirectly interferes with the College operation of computing facilities or electronic mail services; (2) burdens the College with noticeable incremental cost, or (3) interferes with the individual’s employment or other obligations to the College. Furthermore, no user shall use the College’s Email systems or services for the purpose of transmitting fraudulent, defamatory, harassing, obscene, or threatening messages, or any other communications that are prohibited by law. Use of the college email system for the purposes of sending spam or non-business related bulk mail sent to distribution lists is strictly prohibited whether the distribution list is internal or external.

3.0 Policy

3.1 Guidelines

Users of the e-mail system should follow these guidelines and conventions:

Ensure that messages are addressed to the appropriate recipient.
Do not subscribe to list servers and distribution lists that are not directly related to your job. When in doubt, seek permission from your supervisor. Such lists tend to overload and affect the performance of the email system.
Users must not compromise the privacy of their password by giving it to others or exposing it to public view. Passwords should be changed on a regular basis.
Retain messages only if relevant to college business or an anticipated litigation. Users are encouraged to keep emails stored on the server to a minimum. Along with the load this places on server disk space, saved messages are of legal record and can come into play in litigation. If you absolutely need to retain older messages, please consult Information Technology for archiving to personal folders on local workstations. Information Technology will contact users each semester regarding mailboxes over the limit. Please help us keep the system maintained.
Address messages to recipients who “need to know”, rather than all employees. Messages sent unnecessarily can lower system and user performance.
Do not add extraneous items to your messages (i.e. backgrounds, pictures, music, animations, etc.) as they do not adhere to acceptable business practices and they unnecessarily tax the resources of the email system.
Construct messages professionally (spelling, grammar) and efficiently (subject field, attachments).
Be on the lookout for the misguided “warnings” (about computer viruses, impending legislation, etc.) and false appeals for charity. These types of hoaxes, pranks and con games are very common on the Internet. If you get a message that spurs you to take immediate action, it is very likely a hoax, even if the person who passed it along to you was perfectly sincere. Rather than spreading the appeal or “warning”, post a question to IT@highlands.edu so that knowledgeable people can reply.
Incidental personal use of the college email is acceptable

3.2 Strictly Prohibited

The following use of the email system is strictly prohibited. Users receiving such material should immediately report the incident to the appropriate authority.

The creation and exchange of messages that may be interpreted as offensive, harassing, obscene or threatening.
The exchange of proprietary information, or any other privileged, confidential or sensitive information outside of the college, or outside the defined privilege group.
The creation and exchange of advertisements, solicitations, chain letters and other unsolicited email.
The creation, storage or exchange of information in violation of copyright laws.
Reading or sending messages from another user’s account, except under proper delegate arrangements.

3.3 Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Georgia Open Records Act?

This is a state law requiring that all public records be open and available for inspection by any member of the public. There are certain procedures that must be followed to ensure this is carried out correctly.

Are emails subject to the Open Records Act?

Yes. Any email on college-owned equipment, servers, infrastructure, or remote access to network services is subject to disclosure.

Can I send an email out to a college distribution list?

Careful attention should be given to use of this email feature. Only important college information should be delivered using distribution lists. One should consider the audience that will be receiving this group email. Please do not send messages selling or buying anything, advocating a personal interest, or expression of opinion.

Can I send personal email messages to colleagues, friends, or family members?

Since email is a communication medium this is perfectly acceptable as long as no laws or policies are violated. This should be used with discretion similar to a phone conversation.

4.0 Enforcement

Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

5.0 Definitions

Terms Definitions

Users Defined as: faculty, staff, Foundation members, retirees, and students.

Email and Electronic Mail A tool for business communications and defined as all technologies used to transfer electronic messages or computer records. These may reside on or exist in many conditions such as: the user’s machine, a server, backup media; and may include messages that are created, sent, forwarded, replied to, printed, or deleted.

System Administration Defined as typical work performed on the computer systems in which the email system resides. This involves upgrades, maintenance, and some investigatory work on the email software and operating system of the server itself.

System Administrators Information Technology personnel specifically assigned to and Postmaster perform routine maintenance on these servers. Each mail server has at least one and sometimes multiple postmasters. IT Personnel designated as postmaster receive all incoming and outgoing mail that is undeliverable, systems logs, and account violations.

6.0 Revision History

09/16/03 Policy origination jp, tm

11/09/05 Policy review jp